“Jesus,” he gasped. “Why did you lie to me?”
I didn’t know where to start. I hadn’t expected our combat to start in this fashion. The
speech I had prepared in my head started with me accusing him of being a liar, not the other way
around. My mouth was frozen shut.
What came next was not what I had expected him to say either.
“One of the guards attacked you yesterday,” he told me with agony. “Why didn’t you tell me?
” He held my arm out in evidence and waited.
I looked down and realized that he was looking at the bruise that Roach’s fingers had left
behind on my bicep. The bruise now had a greenish purple hue to it. Though this wasn’t what I
thought I was being attacked for, it gave me the ammunition I needed to fight back.
I mentally discarded my preplanned discourse and decided to improvise. “Why would you care?” I
asked coldly, yanking my arm away from him. “You’ll just get rid of me when you’re done. Why
would it matter if one of your guards roughs me up before you do it yourself?”
Cameron looked confused. I had regained the element of surprise.
“What are you talking about? I would never hurt you or let anyone else hurt you. I would
definitely not let one of my men do … anything to you.”
“Do not patronize me!” I interjected. “You care about me like people care for their pets. I’
m just something for you to play with when you come home. Then you’ll have me put down when you
get sick of me.”
“Emmy, if this is about the kiss thing, I shouldn’t have—”
“Cameron, please don’t insult my intelligence by pretending that you care about what happens
to me. The game is over. I overheard you talking to that Manny girl in your office.”
The blood rushed from Cameron’s face, and his eyes widened. He turned his back and paced a few
steps. I was blistering hot. But while I was huffing, he took a moment for the shock of my
revelation to wear off, and he came back, his face completely composed.
“You shouldn’t have gone wandering.” His tone was acerbic.
He sat next to me and glared.
I was getting extremely dizzy but stood anyway.
“I can’t believe I fell for … all of this,” I said, unable to hide my pain. “I actually
thought that you loved me. I thought …” I was shaking my head, pacing, winded, struggling with
the tears and the heat. I didn’t know what to think anymore.
When a very calm Cameron leaned over to take my hand—and I felt like I wanted him to take it
more than anything—I panicked and jumped out of his reach. He flinched, and I caught a glimpse
of something in his eyes.
Suddenly, I remembered how to fight again. I stopped and narrowed my eyes at him. “I guess I
should apologize to you because I haven’t been much fun at all since I’ve been here. So, I’ll
make this really easy for you …”
On a calculated whim, I furiously pulled off my T-shirt and unbuttoned my pants.
Cameron quickly glanced away. “Jesus! Emmy, what are you doing?” he cried out, in shock and
embarrassment.
I kicked my jeans off and stood in front of him in my underwear.
“Have you gone completely crazy?” he squeaked keeping his eyes down.
My eyes were throwing daggers. I put on a brave front, but felt like I was going to throw up.
“This is what you told Manny you wanted, isn’t it? Well go ahead—have your fun with me. I’m
not sure why you went through all this trouble in the first place—it’s not like I have
anywhere to go. Hell, you could have done this on the first day and gotten rid of me then
instead of going through the effort of making me love you. Or is that your fun? Messing with my
mind before … all of this,” I said, rapidly waving my hands over my nearly bare chest.
Cameron was up on his feet. He looked ill, but his expression remained otherwise even. He took a
step toward me. Out of fear that I would let him take me in and in an act of devotion to the
cause, I threw myself onto the bed and laid on my back, my body taut like a soldier.
When I glanced up, I saw that he had folded his arms and was waiting. His attempt at patience
was disparaging.
“What are you waiting for?” My voice was pleading, almost begging.
He didn’t move an inch and continued to watch me, his eyes concentrating on my face.
A ball of tears was making its way to my eyes. I didn’t know what was worse: the fact that I
had unclothed myself without much effect or the fact that he wasn’t even slightly interested in
taking me up on my offer.